Morgause was the eldest daughter of Vivienne - who was also the mother of Morgana, thus making Morgause and Morgana maternal half-sisters. She was a skilled warrior, a powerful sorceress and a High Priestess of the Old Religion. Morgause was eventually badly wounded by Merlin and Gaius, and a year later, physically weakened, she chose to be sacrificed by Morgana at the Isle of the Blessed, so the spirits of the dead could enter the human world and attack Camelot and the villages around it, claiming that it was her "final gift" to her sister, and that it would "bring their enemies to their knees".
She was played by Emilia Fox.
History[]
Early life[]
Morgause was the half-sister of Morgana Pendragon; it is currently unknown if she had any other siblings, however this is more on the unlikely side. Morgause was born into one of the noble houses of Camelot, the house of Gorlois - though the man himself is not her father as Morgause and Morgana referred to one another as "sister" once Morgana's true parentage (that of Uther) was known; her mother, Vivienne, the wife of Gorlois, is also implied to be Morgana's mother, and they both inherited their magical powers from her. For some unknown reason, Gaius was asked to smuggle the infant Morgause out of Camelot and give her to the High Priestesses of the Old Religion. Gaius did so, and swore an oath to never reveal his actions to anyone while Uther was led to believe that Morgause had died, also due to an unknown reason. Morgause studied magic for many years, eventually becoming a very powerful sorceress, acting to take her revenge on King Uther Pendragon.
First Visit to Camelot[]
Many years after her birth, Morgause returned to Camelot, now a grown woman. Dressed as a knight, she killed five guards to get into the castle, where she revealed herself to the court and challenged Arthur Pendragon to a duel. Despite the fact that he did not wish to fight Morgause, Arthur agreed. The next day, Morgause defeated Arthur in their duel, but left him alive so that he would accept her next challenge. She also introduced herself to her half-sister, Morgana, though she kept their relationship a secret. She also gave her a bracelet with magical healing powers to relieve her of her nightmares, saying it belonged to her mother, thus implying that it was also Morgana's mother. Gaius found the bracelet and informed Uther that only Morgana's half-sister would be able to wear such a bracelet besides herself, revealing Morgause's true fate and admitting to Uther that he made a oath which he was only breaking now because he feared Morgause's intentions.
As she was leaving Camelot, Morgause told Arthur that she knew something about his mother, giving Arthur incentive to come see her. Despite the fact that his father tried to prevent him from leaving, Arthur went to meet her, accompanied by Merlin. When they reached her, Morgause told Arthur to place his head on a chopping block so she could kill him. He did so, and Morgause told him the whole thing had been a test of his character. As his reward, Morgause used her magic to summon either Ygraine's spirit or the illusion of Ygraine, who told Arthur the secret of his birth; he had been conceived by magic because Uther had wanted an heir and as a result she had died. Enraged at his father for his presumed selfishness and without knowing all the details, Arthur returned to Camelot and attempted to kill Uther. But just as he was about to deal the fatal blow, Merlin burst into the hall and convinced him that Morgause had tricked him. Morgause was upset that her plans had failed while her deceit further cemented Arthur's mistrust of magic (The Sins of the Father).
Assault on Camelot[]
Morgause later awoke the Knights of Medhir to kill Uther. She also approached Morgana and won her trust by playing on the fact that if Uther discovered that she had magic, he would have her executed. She then placed a spell upon her, binding her life to a sleeping spell which she placed on Camelot. The spell put everyone in Camelot to sleep, with the exception of Morgana, Arthur and Merlin (who were away when she cast the spell). Merlin, after visiting The Great Dragon, learned of how to stop the Knights, by destroying the source of the enchantment (which was Morgana), and so he reluctantly poisoned Morgana with a type of poison called hemlock.
Morgause, upon hearing her sister's telepathic screams, confronted Merlin and demanded he tell her what he used to poison her sister so she could heal her. Merlin refused to do so unless she killed the Knights. Morgause chose her sister over her chance to kill Uther, and used her magic to kill the knights. Merlin then showed her the hemlock, but Arthur and the Knights of Camelot soon burst into the room. Surrounded, Morgause used her magic to take Morgana and herself away from Camelot and saved her life. The sisters were united to start planning the attack of Camelot (The Fires of Idirsholas).
Return to Camelot[]
With Morgana's help, Morgause later cast a powerful enchantment on Uther using a mandrake root and his tears. The spell caused Uther to see hallucinations of people whom he had caused to suffer either during the Great Purge or afterwards. These include his wife, Ygraine, begging Uther for something and a small child whom Gaius revealed to be one of the many children Uther had killed simply because they may have inherited magic from their parents. The spell gave the impression to the people of Camelot that their king may be losing his mind and would be unfit to rule. Morgause was later seen working with King Cenred to move against Camelot and watched the siege of Camelot with him. She was enraged when Merlin thwarted her and Morgana's plan, though she did not know that Merlin was the person that prevented the fall of Camelot (The Tears of Uther Pendragon).
Morgause later visited Morgana, who had just discovered that she was Uther's illegitimate daughter. Unlike Morgana, Morgause was delighted by this since it meant she was of the royal line, albeit unrecognized and illegitimate, which meant Morgana could potentially take the throne when Uther died, provided that Arthur did not stand in the way. Morgause had apparently been previously unaware that Uther was Morgana's father (The Crystal Cave).
She helped Morgana with her plan to kill Arthur by getting Cenred to kidnap Gwen's brother Elyan and giving her a magical ring to guide Cenred's warriors to Arthur, she nearly killed Arthur with a fire spell before Merlin exploded the fire before it could harm Arthur (The Castle of Fyrien).
Morgause later met up with Morgana in a crowded market disguised as a poor old woman. She gave Morgana the Phoenix Eye to give to Arthur for his quest to claim The Fisher King's trident so it would kill him (The Eye of the Phoenix).
When Morgana had a dream of Gwen becoming Queen of Camelot alongside Arthur she gave Morgause a message informing her of this. They secretly met at night in the castle where Morgause told her about different types of possible futures and told her to make sure this one would never happen. Morgana later tried but failed (Queen of Hearts).
The Queen's Sister[]
Thanks to her spy, Morgana, Morgause discovered when Arthur and Merlin set out to find the Cup of Life. She told Cenred to get the Cup for her. Cenred's men succeeded in collecting the Cup and Morgause made Cenred's army immortal. However she betrayed Cenred and caused one of his own men to attack and apparently kill him. Morgause was later involved in a brief ceremony where Morgana was crowned Queen of Camelot, after her immortal warriors defeated Camelot's army. Morgause manipulated Guinevere and Sir Leon into leading them to Arthur who had escaped Camelot along with Merlin, Elyan, Gwaine, and Gaius.Lancelot and Percivalantervened allowing the group to escape.
Morgause later attacked Merlin when he attempted to retrieve the Cup of Life. Gaius arrived in time to prevent her from killing the young warlock and attacked her with his own magic catching her off guard. Merlin then defeated Morgause by smashing her against a pillar with his magic, incapacitating her. A devastated Morgana rushed into the room and cradled her sister as Morgause had a year ago before bringing the room crashing down with magical screams of anguish. A later search through the rubble found no trace of Morgana or Morgause leaving their fate unknown (The Coming of Arthur).
Death[]
Although Morgause survived the attack from Merlin and Gaius, she was left with serious scars on the right side of her face, along with various other unspecified health problems. Morgause and Morgana were seen travelling to the Isle of the Blessed a year after their attack on Camelot, where Morgause was sacrificed by Morgana to break the veil between the spirit world and the world of the living in order to attack Camelot. She said that there was nothing left for her in the living world and she wanted to make her passing her final gift to Morgana (The Darkest Hour).
Personality[]
Morgause was highly intelligent, astute, powerful, arrogant, vengeful, and Machiavellian. Her manipulative and carefully scheming ways were shown by her use of Arthur's curiosity about his mother to try to turn him against Uther. She also used Morgana's hatred of Uther and her vulnerability to persuade her to join her evil plots.
Morgause was so consumed with hatred and rage as a result of the persecution of sorcerers by Uther that she would stop at almost nothing to destroy him completely. Morgause was largely callous and cold towards others, viewing most of them as tools to be used to gain power and disposed of when they served no further use.
She was contemptuous of almost all others and, though she evidently cared about Morgana, she was more dominant in their relationship, although this changed a little during Morgana's first reign as Queen when they treated each other more like equals.
Despite her ruthless nature, Morgause did have a softer side. When she found out Morgana was dying, she abandoned her attempt on Uther's life in order to save her half-sister. She later attempted to kill Merlin for poisoning Morgana and also acted as a confidante to her sister. Morgana appeared to be the only other person for whom Morgause had any real affection.
Though she was well acquainted with King Cenred, who was clearly attracted to her, Morgause treated him as a puppet and kept him interested with her looks and charm. She had no real affection for him, though, and her treacherous nature was exemplified when she had him killed. Morgause was very confident in her own abilities, passing straight into Camelot and killing five guards on the way before challenging Arthur to a duel.
She also seemed confident that she could defeat him, which she did. Morgause also arrogantly informed Merlin that she wouldn't see him again as she prepared to kill him and was caught off guard by the arrival of Gaius which resulted in her defeat.